Application of sensor network communications

Abstract

The USA Army's future combat systems (FCS) will rely heavily on the use of remote, unattended sensors to detect, identify and track enemy targets in order to survive with less armor protection. Successful implementation of these critical sensor fields requires the realization of low cost transducers, processors and the communications infrastructure to report and disseminate sensor data to provide situational awareness to the FCS. The communications must support both static deployed and mobile ground and air robotic sensor arrays with robust, secure, stealthy, jam resistant links for sensor fusion and command and control. The applications and proliferation of such sensor arrays will ultimately depend on cost and performance. It is envisioned for broadest application that sensor networks can be deployed in a two tiered architecture that includes a lower sensor sub-layer consisting of acoustic, magnetic and/or seismic detectors and an upper sub-layer consisting of infrared or visual cameras. The upper sub-layer can be cued by the lower sub-layer and provides a gateway link to higher echelon tactical networks such as the tactical Internet. The sensor deployment geometries, networking constraints and distances to C2 nodes will be application specific. Application of the USA Army CECOM Networked Sensors for the Objective Force (NSOF) communications technologies is shown in a notional FCS environment.